Optical toy



Jan. 7, 1958 PAUL $00 H00 2,818,767

OPTICAL TOY Filed Nov. 30, 1956 ATTOEA/'YS United States Patent OPTICALTOY Paul S00 H00, Boston, Mass.

Application November 30, 1956, Serial No. 625,498

1 Claim. (Cl. 88-16) This invention relates to toys, and moreparticularly to an optical toy of the type providing the illusion ofmotion of the designs or other objects on the rear surface of the toywhen viewed through the front apertures thereof.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedoptical toy which is simple in construction, which is easy to operate,and which may be employed in conjunction with a mirror or which may beprovided with its accompanying mirror to provide an interesting andnovel illusion of movement of the designs or other indicia provided onthe rear surface of the main disc element of the toy when the designs orother indicia on said rear surface are viewed through apertures in saidmain disc element.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved optical toyof the rotating radially slotted disc type, said toy being inexpensiveto manufacture, being durable in construction, and providing a highdegree of entertainment and visual stimulation to children or otherpersons using the toy.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claim, and from the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view showing an improved toy according to thepresent invention set up for use.

Figure 2 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the main portion of thetoy illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical cross sectional view taken on line 33of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, the optical toy comprises a main element 11and a mirror 12 employed in conjunction with the main element 11, aswill be presently described. The main element 11 comprises a rod-likesupport 13 formed with a handle loop 14 and formed at the end thereofopposite the handle loop 14 with an arm 15 extending at right angles tothe main portion of the rod 13, as is clearly shown in Figure 3.Designated at 16 is a disc member of suitable, substantially rigidmaterial, such as stiff cardboard, sheet metal, plastic material, or thelike, the disc member 16 being rotatably mounted on the arm 15 at itscenter. The arm 15 is formed with an inner enlargement 17 and an outerenlargement 18. Mounted on the arm 15 inwardly adjacent the respectiveenlargements 17 and 18 are respective washers 19 and 20, and mounted onarm 15 adjacent the washer 19 is a relatively thick washer 21 which issubstantially larger in diameter than the washers 19 and 20, as shown,the disc member 16 being mounted on the arm 15 between the thick washer21 and the washer 20, whereby the washer 21 acts as a support for thedisc member 16, reducing the tendency of the disc member to wobble oroscillate. The relatively large thick washer 21 also serves as astabilizer to support the disc member 16, so that the device may be attimes employed as a fan.

2,818,767 Patented Jan. 7, 1958 ice The small washers 19 and 20 areloosely mounted on the arm 15 and are freely rotatable thereon, thewashers 19 and 20 cooperating with the washer 21 to maintain the discmember 16 substantially perpendicular to the arm 15 at all times whilepresenting no interference with the rotation of said disc member on thearm.

The disc member 16 is of substantial diameter and is formed adjacent itsperiphery with identical, evenly spaced, radial slots 22 located atidentical distances from the center of the disc member. The rear surfaceof the disc member 16 is provided with a plurality of circularlyarranged rows of markings 24, located inwardly of the slots 22 and whichmay be of any desired nature, said markings being, for example, coloreddiscs, or other geometrical figures, or alternatively being pictures ofobjects or animals, or merely being arbitrary designs which vary insize, shape, or position circularly around the disc member.

As is illustrated in Figure l, the main member 11 is employed inconjunction with the mirror 12, the reflections of the designs orobjects 24 being viewed through the slots 22 from the front of the mainmember 11, the mirror 12 being arranged parallel to and spacedrearwardly from the disc member 16, so that when the disc member 16 isbeing rotated, the reflections of the design 24 or other objectsillustrated on the rear surface of the disc member provide the illusionof movements of the designs or other objects, thus providing an unusualvisual effect which is of great interest and is of high visualstimulation to children or other persons using the toy.

In operating the toy, the support 13 is held in an upright position,employing the loop 14 as a handle, and the disc member 16 is rotatedmanually, the user viewing reflections of the objects or designs on theback of the disc member 16 through the slots 22 as said reflectionsappear on the mirror 12.

While a specific embodiment of an improved optical toy has beendisclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood thatvarious modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur tothose skilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that no limitationsbe placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of theappended claim.

What is claimed is:

In combination, a supporting rod, an arm on one end of said rodextending perpendicular thereto, a handle loop on the other end of therod, a disc member rotatably mounted at its center on said arm, washermeans on the arm on opposite sides of the disc member supporting saiddisc member parallel to said rod, said disc member being formed adjacentits periphery with identical, evenly spaced, radial slots located atidentical distances from the center of the disc member, a plurality ofconcentric rows of markings on the rear surface of the disc memberarranged circularly around said center inwardly of the slots and atdifferent radial distances from said center, and a mirror disposedparallel to said disc member and spaced rearwardly therefrom, saidmirror being arranged so that the refletcions of said markings may beviewed on said mirror through said slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,526,794 King Feb. 17, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS 372,033 Great Britain May5, 1932 1,117,215 France Feb. 20, 1956

